Hopefully, you’re aware of Fantasy Kit Friday, our weekly attempt to dress a team up in a historical style different to that which they actually wore. Tomorrow, December 30, will be the final instalment of the year, so we felt it an apposite time to collate all of the offerings together.
While the concept of a weekly edition only manifested itself this year, the idea itself is actually just over two years old, as we road-tested it with four Irish Gaelic games teams in classic adidas:
They got a fairly good response, albeit to a limited audience, but other things got in the way of it becoming a regular feature. Even when we gave it a name in April, it was still ad hoc – though, unoriginally, the template was becoming fixed:
It would be nearly a month before another attempt:
We were getting some ‘engagement’, as the digital marketing bods call it, but there was an inherent fear that our adidas bias was unhealthy. We threw it out to the floor, though, and the first request for the now-hashtagged #fantasykitfriday was still from Herzogenrauch, though of a later vintage.
Another break of more than a month ensued – we were learning how to draw on Adobe Illustrator – but this one kick-started a regular weekly flow of higher-quality renderings.
Where possible, we liked to be topical:
And then, occasionally, surreality prevailed (there was a break of a week due to holidays).
At the end of July, work took us to Leeds for a few days, so inspiration was taken from that.
Some of our favourite kits have been the ones that you know could never have happened but still look great.
There’s always time to return to the classic look.
Other times, we feel generous enough to give a two-for-one.
Request are accommodated as much as possible, as it saves us having to think.
For September 9, we conferred with our old sparring partner Andrew Rockall, a massive Tottenham Hotspur fan, to come with a whole suite of Spurs kits and we published them all here. If you can’t be bothered to check, this was the home:
Some kits can meet opposition from traditionalists…
…and others that you might be unsure about turn out to be well-received.
It’s often fun to use a team’s current (or, in this case, soon-to-be-former) maker and go back to before they had them.
And there are others that are very out there.
This one worked a lot better in our heads than on the screen, sadly.
If we had time, every week would feature a home, away and third as well as goalkeeper kits. Unfortunately, we don’t, but it does make these ones more enjoyable.
As far as we can see, this is the only instance of a team’s own home kit being recoloured.
Looking at these again, one almost has to do a double-take and remember that City didn’t actually have Hummel.
Their rivals switched to Umbro in 1992, but might have looked like this if they did it sooner.
Just after drawing this, we were very pleased with it. Until it was pointed out that Germany’s leisurewear in 1996 was just like this, so that’s probably where the idea subliminally came from.
Another request, more on which you can read about at the wonderful Hull City Kits.
The bias is very much towards the past, so it’s no harm to mix it up every once in a while.
And it’s not all top teams we do either. Any suggestion will be considered.
Collaborate with a friend for an idea, if you want.
But be warned, we can be selfish when we want.
Edit: For completeness, here is the final one:
Of course, in Munich, blue had always meant 1860 rather than Bayern. For the stadtderby between the clubs during this kit’s lifespan, Bayern did turn out in red for their ‘home’ games at the Olympiastadion – a stock adidas design used by France and Rangers.
